Reborn
by SomthingMachine
Summary: It's been 1000 years since the Allomancers and Feruchemists were all but completely destroyed.  Now a young man finds his life completely turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: This story is based on the Mistborn books by Branden Sanderson. The other characters in this story, though the world is based on Sanderson's books, belong to me solely. P.S. Remember to review the stories you read whether you like them or don't like them. It helps all of us to grow! Thanks and I hope you enjoy!**_

_Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet (Lots of Thanks to my Beta! If you've read this already try reading through it again. It may flow much better in some places)_

Dekard Darbringer was the heir to the Darbringer legacy, those who started the Metallurgic Purge a millennia ago and rose to the top on the publication of the event. Ever since those days the Darbringers have been the epitome of the media industry and the money behind the government. The Metallurgic purge started when the people started to fear the Allomancers' ability to burn specific metals that they ingested to gain supernatural abilities and Feruchemists' ability passed down by the Terrismen of being able to store different attributes in metals called metal minds. Dekard's ancestors capitalized on the opportunity and became one of the most powerful families in existence, and that trend still carries to this day.

Dekard had been raised from the time he was born to hate all Allomancers and Feruchemists and to dedicate his life to their absolute annihilation. It was the night of his twenty-third birthday and he was only one year from becoming a partner with his father in the massive media conglomerate, so he had decided to go out for a few drinks, which turned into a lot of drinks. As the three men were beating him in the alley he was thinking how bad of an idea this night had been. One of the major down sides of being so wealthy is that it made you a very big target for the unlovely people who hung around the best places to get some drinks. He was beginning to wonder why these men hadn't just taken his wallet and ran yet. Why they seemed so eager to beat him to death. After one more really good punch to the stomach, that made Dekard release what little breath he still had, the men left him there on the cold, wet asphalt behind the bar to die. Dekard's life was passing him by as if he was fast forwarding through a recording of it, when he felt the sensation of some kind of reservoir of power within his stomach. He had never before felt what he was feeling but he knew what it was nonetheless; he could feel metal reserves waiting to be burned within him. _How could this be happening?_ He thought, feeling the panic rise in his chest.

According to the law all children are supposed to go through a Snapping session when they are five. Dekard had thought that he had gone through a Snapping session where the men of the house had beaten him within an inch of his life to see if he would Snap and reveal himself to have some kind of Allomantic ability. Either he hadn't actually gone through one of these sessions or it hadn't been as severe as it should have been because he was now showing Allomantic abilities and his body was burning them naturally.

In that instant, teetering on the edge of consciousness, his body began to burn the trace amounts of pewter that were in his system from the pewter mugs that the old bar used; he felt his wounds start to become less intense. He knew that by burning pewter, his physical abilities would become enhanced and that his body would heal much more quickly. He was still passing out as he thought about the fact that he was what he hated and that he could not just give up and die in this moment because the pewter in his system would keep him alive. The last thing he saw were her bright green eyes before she said,

"He's over here! He's hurt pretty badly, but he seems to be burning pewter. We need to hurry…." then all faded to black.

* * *

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When Dekard woke up, he could hear people, on the other side of the door to the strange room he was in, talking.

"We can't let him stay here, Ai! He is the enemy!"

"He was dying, Cam. I couldn't just leave him lying there to die…."

"Why not? How many of us has his family killed? You think that just because he is an Allomancer now that he will change?"

"His family will try to kill him now. You know that he can't go back there. He has nowhere to go!"

As Dekard was getting up to listen in more closely he bumped into the table beside his bed and knocked the metal cup off of it. A moment later those same bright-green eyes were at the door and Dekard noticed for the first time the bright, fire-red hair that that barely touched her shoulders and her pale skin and freckles. Behind her stood a man whom had much darker hair, jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and looked like he was from the far eastern side of the world. Dekard assumed he was the one she was calling Cam during the conversation he had just overheard.

"Hello! I'm glad to see you awake and looking better. My name is Ailyie but everyone just calls me Ai!"

Dekard just sat there silent and scornful, not saying a word. He was still feeling the displeasure of knowing he was an Allomancer and he assumed, based on the conversation he heard, that he was in the company of more Allomancers. The idea of it all was overwhelming and sickening. He could no longer feel any kind of metal reserves so he knew that he didn't have any in his system to burn. That fact made him feel a little better about the situation. Dekard was searching for a way out, but he could tell by the way his body felt that he hadn't had enough pewter to completely heal and he assumed that this "Cam" had kept Ai from administering any pewter into his system. Cam obviously didn't trust him. He was a smart man. Since Dekard couldn't do anything, he just sat there and kept silent.

After a moment of silence Cam spoke up. "See, Ai, I told you. You can see the contempt on his face. He either doesn't know how to hide it or doesn't care enough to. Leave him here to rot in his thoughts…."

At that Cam turned away and stormed into the darkness beyond the door where Dekard could no longer see him. Ai's shoulders dropped just slightly as her head followed suit and she turned away calling, "Camis, wait! I'm coming with you." She turned her head slightly towards Dekard and said,"Mr. Darbringer…. I hope that you can come to speak with us." Then as she turned to walk away she finished, "For you will not be accepted by your former family and friends and we may be all you have…." At that she closed the door behind her.

Dekard hadn't heard her lock the door behind her, but he didn't know who else might be with the two. He also didn't have all of his strength back yet. The Hazekillers, a government organization named after an ancient idea of people trained solely to kill Allomancers, would come looking for him in a day or so anyway; with the tracking device embedded in his ankle it wouldn't take them long to find him. Then they would destroy the band of metal users and he would go back to the life he was supposed to have.

* * *

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Over the past few days, Dekard had met at least three other people and had seen several more wandering around outside his room and down the various hallways. Dekard, being trained as a Hazekiller like his family before him, used his training, he carefully observed everyone he met, deduced their abilities through careful observation and committed names and faces to memory. He had learned that Camis and Ailyie were both Twinborn. That meant that they not only had one Allomantic ability, but they also had a Feruchemical ability as well.

Camis was what was called a Soother/Steelrunner, which meant that he could burn brass as his Allomantic ability, giving him the ability to pull on people's emotions, dampening those emotions. He could also store the attribute of speed in his steelminds as his Feruchemical ability. Dekard had noticed this in the way that Camis always seemed to be moving at a muted pace. With Feruchemy one had to store the attribute in a metal mind to later draw upon for a boost to that attribute. This meant that Camis could move with unnatural speed, though Feruchemical abilities are a direct correlation meaning that one can only draw out what one has put in. The powerful thing about Feruchemy is that there is no limit to how much can be pulled out. For instance, Camis could pull out all of his stored up speed in one massive burst and move faster than anyone could even imagine, though that would only give him a very short amount of time at that speed.

Ailyie also had one Allomantic and one Feruchemical ability, though she was something special called a Compounder. This meant that her Allomantic and Feruchemical metals were the same, which Dekard knew made her a very powerful adversary, especially since her metal was chromium. When burned, chromium allowed an Allomancer to deplete the other Allomantic reserves of any Allomancer that they touched. It did the same thing that burning aluminum did except to a target instead of to oneself. The power of a Compounder came out in their Feruchemical ability though. In the instance of Ailyie, she could store up luck in her chromium minds, but being a Compounder when she drew out that attribute she gained it back at tenfold, giving her the ability to become massively luckier than any other chromium ferring could possibly become. This made her a very huge threat, even against Hazekillers, though Dekard knew that the Hazekillers would outnumber the metal users in this small hideout and would not find it very hard to dispatch of them all quickly.

A man he met named Severith astounded him greatly, though. Severith was a Pewterarm that Dekard had met a few days ago. Sev, as his friends called him, was not the ordinary Pewterarm. Most people who found out that they were pewter mistings would forego most kinds of mental training and just focus on powering through all situations that presented themselves. Sev had a different philosophy. He believed that the key to true strength was intelligence, and he had plenty of that to go around. Sev had done a very good job of hiding his alomancy as a child and as a teenager. He attended the most prestigious schools in Dardenel, the capital of the world. Sev had studied several different subjects and was about to graduate at the top of his class when he had finally been caught. That was when he started running.

Then Dekard was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a loud explosion and the subsequent ringing in his ears and then he smiled. The Hazekillers had finally tracked him down and soon he would be free of these metal users.

* * *

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As soon as the explosion went off Sev jumped out of his bed and downed a vial of his pewter/alcohol solution and began to burn it. He descended the stairwell with the grace of a cat and when Sev finally reached the bottom of the stairwell he looked into the open area passed the door. In there he saw the small special operations team and knew instantly that they were Hazekillers. He knew that they would be wearing special body armor that would make it hard for him to hurt them without getting hurt himself. He also saw them heading for the wing of the complex where the children slept, so though it seemed illogical, he rushed at the Hazekillers, trying to give the children time to escape out the back way. He knew Camis would already be in there evacuating them, but he would still need some time.

The rear guard Hazekiller turned as he registered the slap of boots on the floor. As he leveled his aluminum alloy rifle, Sev flared his pewter giving himself a slight burst in physical ability and grabbed the man's wrist, crushing it in his grip as he pulled the weapon free. He didn't have long to react the other Hazekillers would be on him, so he quickly grabbed the butt of the rifle and rammed it as hard as he could against the Hazekiller's throat, collapsing his trachea. He then lifted the man in full body armor off the ground as if he weighed nothing at all and threw him towards some other Hazekillers while he moved into the center of the group to keep them from firing their weapons at him for fear of hitting each other. Sev's tactical sense proved correct in this instance, because as soon as he moved into position, the remaining six Hazekillers slung their rifles on their backs and pulled out their dueling canes, the ancient mark of a Hazekiller. Sev had a large reserve of pewter left, but even with that the situation looked dire. He felt that at least he would die fighting, knowing that he was giving Camis the time he needed to save the children.

The first Hazekiller moved and attacked. Sev, with his enhanced speed, strength, and agility, easily dodged the attack and readied himself for a follow up from another Hazekiller. Hazekillers were professional misting and ferring killers and they knew how to fight a pewterarm. However, Sev was smart and knew how to fight Hazekillers. When the follow up attack finally came, Sev reversed his stance and grabbed the dueling cane, then slammed his forearm into the back of the man's elbow, breaking it and taking the dueling cane in one swift motion. He then broke the weapon that he had freed over the first Hazekillers helmet, shattering the helmet and knocking the man to the ground to never get up again. That left the other four Hazekillers and no time to prepare for the volley of attacks that began to connect with Sev's body. Thankfully, the pewter was keeping him from going unconscious and he was still giving the Hazekiller's a run for their money when one of them whipped out an aluminum dagger. In that moment, when Sev thought he was about to finally die, he heard the rapid succession of four quick shots from a gun and saw each of the remaining Hazekillers fall to the ground with a bullet hole in the front of their visors.

"Good thing I showed up when I did, Sev!" He heard the melodic voice behind him say as he turned around to see Ai standing there with her two antique six shooters leveled.

"Yes I would say so, Ai, though a few minutes ago wouldn't have hurt either," he said as he began to walk towards her. "Did Camis get all the kids out?"

"Yeah, I believe so, I was heading down here to get Darbringer and make sure he was okay."

"Why do you care so much about that man, Ai? He is nothing but trouble. These Hazekillers being here is proof of that."

"You don't know that he brought them here…."

"Come on now, Ai. Think about it. The Hazekillers have never been able to find us before. They are here for him."

"That's why we have to help him! They'll kill him, you know they will."

"I know, I know…. Let's go… Camis is not going to be happy when he hears that we went and saved the Darbringer kid."

* * *

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Dekard was sitting on his bed when the Hazekillers finally kicked down the door. As he stood up and brushed himself off he said, "Finally…. I didn't think you guys were ever going to come. Why did it take you three days to find me? It should have only taken one!"

"Hold on, sir. We need to check your blood for any kind of chemical weapons."

"Fine, fine. Make it quick, though; I'm ready to go home."

"It won't take a minute, sir," the Hazekiller said as he stabbed a needle into Dekard's arm and drew some blood. He then took the blood to a machine that another one of the Hazekillers was carrying and they put it into the machine to be analyzed. A moment later, the other Hazekiller cried, "it's as he thought, sir! He is an Allomancer!"

At hearing this Dekard looked up with worry in his face and saw the two Hazekillers level their weapons at him. "Wait! What! As who thought! No you can't do this to me! I am Dekard Darbringer, heir to the Darbringer legacy!"

At that moment what Ai had been telling him over the past few days finally dawned on him as the truth, and he knew that he was staring down the barrel of the end of his life. He closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate; at least he wouldn't be an Allomancer anymore. Then he heard the shot fire and felt nothing. _So this is what it feels like to die… like a void of numbing nothingness…_

"Dek! Come on!" Then he opened his eyes to see those same green eyes staring at him again.

What was it that made those eyes seem like they offered some kind of salvation from his agony? As he was finally able to break free of the piercing gaze of Ailyie's eyes, he noticed that she was holstering a smoking pistol and the other Hazekiller was falling to the ground at Sev's feet in a broken pile. "Wha…What's going on?"

"We're here to save you, kid," Sev said as he looked back behind him. "And we probably shouldn't linger. Come on, Ai, it's time to go. More Hazekillers are coming through the doors downstairs."

"Come with us, Dek…"

"Why would you want to help me? Everyone else here can see that I detest you, and that you shouldn't trust me. Why do you insist on trying to help me?"

"Because I see something different in you than they do, and you don't have anywhere else to go besides with us… If you try to go back home then they will kill you," she said as she pointed at the dead Hazekillers' bodies.

Reluctantly, Dekard followed Ai and Sev out of the room and down the hall towards the hidden exit in the back. Not two seconds after leaving the door, Camis appeared seemingly out of nowhere and handed him a vial of solution.

"Drink." Dekard just stared at him blankly. "Drink...it...now! You now know that these Hazekillers will kill you too, and though I wouldn't mind seeing that I couldn't do that to Ai. So drink this and get some strength up. It is a pewter solution and it will let you help us get out of here."

Dekard, after a brief war with himself, finally made the decision and downed the vial of solution. He immediately felt the unusual feeling of reservoir in his stomach. He reached within himself and began to burn it, and suddenly he felt less fatigued and much stronger. When they finally found the hidden exit they also found a very small contingent of Hazekillers scouring the hallway.

Sev stuck out his arm to stop the group and said, "We need to do this as quietly as possible. I'll handle this." As he began to stalk forward into the darkened hallway a hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. He turned to see Dek, of all people, crouched down behind him with an unusually determined expression on his face.

"Hold on Sev. I know that you know you can't do this that quietly on your own. You may want to protect them," he said has he nodded at Cam and Ai. "But you will only get them hurt if you try to do this alone. I will help you. The Hazekillers are now my enemies, as hard as that is to believe…"

"So be it. I'll take the right side of the hall and you take the left. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"I may not look it but I was trained as a Hazekiller and am quite a competent fighter."

"That's not what it looked like the night we saw you get the stuffing beat out of you," Cam chimed in.

"I was a little inebriated that night and I got jumped. I'll be doing the jumping tonight and I suggest you watch closely because I will probably be done dispatching these guys before you even understand what is going on."

At that Dek turned and sprinted down the hallway with Sev not far behind him to the right. As soon as the four Hazekillers at the end of the hallway heard the noise rushing down the hall it was too late. The closest Hazekiller to Dek turned around just in time to see Dek jump-kick off the wall and punch him in the head, shattering the helmet underneath his pewter enhanced punch. On the other side, not a moment later, Sev kicked in the knee of the man on his side of the hall and twisted his neck in one fluid motion. The two remaining Hazekillers didn't fare much better; as the first one Dek attacked was still falling to the ground, they both had their ribs cracked and their necks broken. As quickly as the carnage began it had ended, and Ai and Cam were on their way down the hall to the secret exit in the wall.

"Uggh...," Sev grunted as he tried to open up the wall. "This is where the exit is but I can't seem to get it to budge." Then Dekard walked up beside him and grabbed the wall as well. "Let me give you a hand." Each of them flared what pewter they had left in their systems and tore the wall free to reveal a door. They quickly opened the door and passed through it without looking back, and Dek thought to himself, _I can't believe that they actually tried to kill me… How could this happen to me? I am the heir to the Darbringer legacy. I was supposed to take over my father's throne… What did I do to deserve to have my entire life ripped out of my hands like this….? _


	2. Chapter 2

_Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet_

Dekard was still lost in the swarm of thoughts brought on by the past nights' events. He still struggled with the fact that the people he considered to be "his" people had tried to kill him, despite who he was. He still couldn't understand the kindness that Ailyie showed him. He knew he didn't deserve it and would have been much more comfortable in his current situation if she wasn't so kind to him. It made him feel guilty for wanting to hate her when she did nothing but try to help him. He couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness and yet every time he was about to be down and out those eyes, those emerald eyes, saved him. _How can I be rid of this guilt! Why can't she just leave me to die!_ These were the thoughts that continued to haunt Dek as he tried to sleep in the bed of the new safe house.

When they had left the previous hideout Dek had admitted to the embedded tracking device in his ankle. Of course an argument of whether to leave him in the middle of the road ensued between Cam and Ai. After that Dek had volunteered to have it removed before they moved on. Cam obliged with a gleam in his eye, cutting into Dek's ankle and removing the device. Luckily for Dek, and frustratingly for Cam, he still had a bit of pewter left in his system to burn, so the pain wasn't bad at all.

Now he lay in bed, unable to sleep, wondering with each passing moment what the next day would bring. Like the night before he found sleep to be elusive, but he sought after it anyway. In his current state he had no will to do anything, and he just stayed in his room. In fact, he couldn't remember if he had even left the room except to use the bathroom since they had arrived two nights before. Ai came by his room a few times trying to inquire of him. He ignored her each time. He had never met anyone like Ai in upper society. He was sure that she couldn't have had an easy life since she was a Twinborn, but she was still the most positive person he had ever met. She was so full of joy. "I just don't get it." Dek whispered to himself as he sat up in his bed and started to stare out the window.

The night was a mist filled one. Something he hadn't seen in a very long time. He remembered the old tales of how Allomancers were somehow connected to the mists and so they were called mistings. The old tales from millennia ago claimed that Allomancers were born of the mist and they even spoke of Allomancers who were so powerful that they claimed power over all the metals and not just one, the Mistborns. Dekard couldn't image what the war would be like if Mistborns still existed.

* * *

><p>Ai stood on the balcony of her room. Standing in the mists made her feel that her connection to Harmony was deepening. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the special earring that she wore whenever she needed to speak with Harmony and slipped it into her ear. "What am I supposed to do? I know you tell me there is something special about Dekard, but what am I to do if he refuses to accept it? Harmony?" Then in the back of her mind, like a whisper, she heard. <em>Give him time you will all come to see the role he is to play<em>. At that moment the mists eddied around Ailyie in an embracing motion and she removed the earring. As always Harmony was cryptic and open-ended, allowing Ai some peace of mind but leaving her to make her own decisions.

It was getting late and Ai felt well enough to finally go to bed. She stepped down and back into her room and closed the doors to the small balcony before making her way to her bed.

* * *

><p>When Dek woke up he was still propped up against the wall in a sitting position. Staring out into the mists had calmed his nerves enough so that sleep could sneak up on him. <em>Why did the mists comfort me? I never remember feeling this way when I was younger.<em> Then there was a knock at his door and he rolled his eyes, assuming it was Ai trying to get him to come out of his room again.

That assumption was short lived because not two seconds later Severith kicked the door into the room. The door flying off its hinges startled Dek and he was sitting up in a flash with a dumbfounded look plastering his face. Sev just smiled and tossed him a vial of pewter solution. Then he pulled out a dueling cane and charged. In the split second Dek had to react he was going to ask what was going on. Then he thought better of it and used that amount of time to down the pewter and leap out of bed. It wasn't a moment too soon because as soon as he moved Sev came crashing down on the position where Dek had been sitting.

After he landed to the side of his bed Dek grabbed the table and ripped two legs off it with a pewter powered yank. Sev quickly jumped back toward Dek. Dek, dodging to his right, ran out the door to the open foyer and Sev followed, constantly on the offensive, not letting Dek get in a position to turn the tides. The two Allomancers floated around the room like razor sharp feathers on a gust of wind. The grace, control, and power that pewter gave the two of them was amazing and the other people in the house just stood at their doors and watched with awe as they fought.

Dek could feel his pewter reserves starting to diminish and he began looking for a chance to get to the satchel that Sev had slung across his body. He had seen Sev pull the first vial out of the bag and assumed that there were more in there. _How can I get into that bag? I need to sever the strap or something so I can take it._ Dek thought, just seconds before Sev reached into the bag and pulled out another vial of pewter for himself. Sev hadn't noticed that another vial of metal had caught on his hand and dropped on the ground beside him. At that moment, Dek saw a chance to replenish his reserves so that he could put an end to this stupid fight. In fact, Dek didn't know why he was fighting with Sev. _Why did he attack me? Is he acting on his mistrust? Did Camis send him to assassinate me? _With that thought Dek flared what pewter he had left and made a dash for the vial. The burst of speed and his trajectory wasn't what Sev was expecting and it threw him off. Dek easily rolled passed a surprised half-swing from Sev. As Dek came out of the roll he held the vial in one hand and was popping the cork of the top with his thumb. A second later the solution in the vial was making its way down Dek's throat and into his system. "You thought that you would be able to outlast me with your bag of pewter, but you made a mistake. Now I'm going to end this!"

Sev didn't say a word. He just smiled and charged Dek. As soon as Sev moved towards him Dek felt the metal reserve in his system and he began to burn it. Dek didn't feel the enhanced physical attributes that pewter provided, though, and the punch that Sev threw connected with his face. In that instance Dek thought he would be killed by Sev's pewter enhanced punch, but to his surprise Sev's blow became more normal in that instance and the force of the punch was not near as powerful as it should have been. Dek, still knocked to the ground, coming very close to blacking out, was surprised that the punch didn't kill him. "What? What happened?" Dek asked groggily as Sev stood over him with a look that Dek thought was confusion. In his current state he wouldn't swear to anything he thought he saw though.

"Let me see that vial." Sev said as he reached his hand out towards Dek. A moment later Sev held the vial in his hand. "By Harmony…"

"What? What just happened? Did you pull your punch?"

"You just burned chromium, Dek."

"Wait… What?"

"This bag doesn't just hold pewter, Dek. I just came back from a metal run. This is the vial for chromium. I didn't pull my punch. You depleted my metal reserves when I made contact with you."

If what Sev was saying was true and he had just burned chromium, then his situation just got infinitely worse in his own mind. From what he studied about Allomancy, if you could burn more than one metal then you could burn all of them. This meant that Dekard was a Mistborn and not only that, but he was the first Mistborn in thousands of years to exist. _What am I supposed to do now? Why is this happening to me?_ With this revelation continuing to dawn on him he slowly stood up, shook off his grogginess, and walked back to his room without another word.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean he is a Mistborn, Sev?" Camis said in his abrupt tone.<p>

"I threw him some pewter this morning and started a sparring session with him against his will. When he ran out of pewter I accidentally dropped a vial of Ai's chromium and in the heat of the battle he downed and burned it without realizing it wasn't pewter."

"Great! That's all we need is for Darbringer to be a Mistborn. If he wasn't dangerous enough when we thought he was just a Pewterarm."

At that Sev responded, "Cam, you know that I don't necessarily trust the kid, but Ai's right about him not having anywhere else to go. If we play this smart we could really use his knowledge about the other side. I'm not saying you should trust him, but you should give him a chance. We might be able to use him."

Cam just stood there staring at Sev with that look in his eyes that told the people who knew him that he was thinking. Then he said, "You're right, as always. Do you want to tell Ai about the new development, or should I?"

"I'll do it. I'm afraid that if you did it you would say something that would get you and Ai into another argument about that boy." Sev said with a wink before he turned and left Cam in his room alone.

A moment later Sev was walking down the hall still thinking about what had happened and what all of this meant to them. He knew that when he reached Ai's room and told her she would be excited and the first thing she would do would to be to try and go talk to Dek. Sev also knew that Dek would be sulking in his room still unable to come to grips with what was happening to him. "That kid is so selfish. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering his upbringing. He never had to hide his entire life while trying to pursue his dreams. He didn't have to start running because he saw someone being mugged by five people and did something about it. Though I guess I was selfish once, too. I spent my whole life running from my problems pretending they didn't exist. Ignoring the death that surrounded me… Who am I to judge him? Still though I don't like the way he is treating the only person in this building that trusts him." Sev spoke softly to himself as he moved down the hall staring at the floor. He knew that he criticized Dek's upbringing, but when he thought about it he didn't have it much harder than Dek had. Not near as hard as Ai and Cam had to live. Things were different now, though. He didn't hide behind his name anymore. He was no longer Severith Thistleback, son of a rich man. He was an Allomancer and he did his best to take care of the people that he cared about.

While in his thoughts Sev arrived at Ai's door. He knew she would be awake already; Ai didn't sleep for very long, a side effect of growing up as a twinborn on the streets without a family. How positive and lit up she always was astounded most everyone in the building. She had probably had one of the harder experiences out of everyone, but she still just went about life caring about everyone and everything. That was evident in how she treated Dek, the child of the family that started all of this. _Anyway… here we go…_

As Sev walked into her room he could see her in her normal morning routine. Ailyie was standing there in the middle of her room wearing a blindfold and her metalminds. She was throwing knives at a target this morning and hitting the dead center every time. He could even see that some of them were stuck in the ends of the others.

"Must be nice being so extremely lucky."

"Hi, Sev. Don't be jealous." Ai said with that sweet smile that she always wore, "You have a wonderful gift too."

"Maybe, but mine doesn't allow me to do almost anything that I want and end up coming out on top."

"As always you are breaking my concentration with your attempts at being funny."

"That's funny. I'm not trying to be funny…"

"Whatever! I can hear that massive smile on your face." Ai said with a smile as she pulled her handkerchief down around her neck.

"Anyway, I came to tell you some much unexpected news."

"What? Did something happen while you were out making metal solutions in your lab?"

"Oh, no that went fine. When I got back I sparred with Dek some and…"

"I'm sure that wasn't his idea, nor did he volunteer willingly."

"Well after a pewter filled thirty-five year old was running at him with a crazed look in his eyes he obliged. Anyway, getting back to my point before I was so rudely interrupted." He said as Ai just stared at him with a look on her face that said "whatever" he continued. "Dek burned chromium this morning by accident. He is a Mistborn."

"I knew there was something special about him!" She said as she passed Sev heading down the hall towards Dek's room.

"I swear. I know that girl like she was my own or something."

* * *

><p>Dek was sitting in the chair beside his two-legged table that was resting quietly on the ground as if it hadn't had its legs ripped off. His bed was still collapsed, so he would have to find a new one later for sleeping. Right now he just wanted to think. "I feel like I can't think of anything but the word 'why.' Why, why, why? And now this! I'm a Mistborn. How did that happen? There hasn't been a Mistborn in thousands of years, not since the one they called the Lord Mistborn. Why now? Why me of all people? My life was supposed to be easy. I was supposed to officially be announced the heir to Darbringer Media Incorporated and then be indoctrinated into the Hazekillers officially to serve until it was time to actually take over the business. Now I'm a filthy Allomancer. No, a filthy Mistborn, and the people who I was supposed to join want to kill me. I want my life back!"<p>

"You know nothing is ever going to be the same, Dek." the melodious voice behind him said, startling him.

"Why do you insist on trying to talk to me? Don't you get it?" Dek said as he turned toward Ai. "I'm a Darbringer. I hate all of you and now I hate myself! Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Dek, you are a first Mistborn to live in thousands of years! How can you still leave no room for change, no room for adaptation? How have you lived your entire life just expecting things to always be the same and to never change?"

"That's the way it's supposed to be. I knew what was going to happen to me and it was all planned out down to the smallest details. Now I'm in a completely different place with no idea how things are going to happen."

"This is our life, Dek, and now you are a part of it! Whether you see it or not you are obviously meant for something besides the life you had before. You are destined for something great!"

"How can you be so sure, so positive?"

"Harmony told me so."

"Harmony? You still believe in Harmony after all that has happened in the world? Look around you Ai. Your belief in Harmony hasn't gotten you anywhere! You are hunted like animals!"

"Harmony allows people their free-will, Dek. I see him in different ways; he is there, watching over us. Just because he exists doesn't mean that terrible things don't happen sometimes. For there to be good there has to also be evil. You can't have a force without something to oppose it; otherwise you wouldn't know that it was good."

"That just seems like your grasping at straws."

"Anyway, that fact remains that you are the first Mistborn to exist in thousands of years, Dek! It is obvious to everyone that you are meant for something besides what you thought you were raised for. Why can't you see that?"

"Can you please just leave me alone? I really don't want to talk about it."

"You know that I'm not going to give up on you." Ai said as Dek turned away from her looking out the window. Then Ai slowly turned around to leave lingering like smoke coming out the end of one of Sev's pipes, hoping that Dek would give-in in that moment. He didn't, and she left.


	3. Chapter 3

_~~~Please remember to review the works that you read. This is how we grow as writers and as a community! Thanks and I hope you enjoy!~~~_

_Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet_

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><p>"<em>Come on son. We'll go get some ice cream!"<em>

"_Okay, Mommy!" The little boy said excitedly to his mother as she opened the door to the car. The boy's eyes were swollen shut and his face and body were bruised and broken, but the idea of ice cream made all the pain go away for the moment. He could only think about his favorite flavor of ice cream and how delicious it would taste. He quickly climbed into his car seat as if he had his heels had been on fire, and his mother strapped him in good and tight before they were off to get some ice cream!_

_After the car finally came to a stop the young boy unbuckled his car seat and opened the door with enthusiasm that only a child could display. He may have just gone through a life changing beating, but he was utterly excited about his ice cream. He couldn't wait to walk around the park eating his cone and spending the rest of the day with his mommy. When the boy leapt out of the car he landed on the soft grass and after looking up he saw his father and two more men in black suits standing there, waiting for him and his mother._

"_Who are you? Who are these men, mommy?" The boy asked of his mother with a quizzical look on his face. When the boy turned towards his mother he could see nothing but a face completely full of tears that couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. He was a child and had no idea what was really happening, but in that moment he knew that something was very wrong. He turned back around and saw his father's back towards him and the two faceless men walking towards him with outstretched arms._

In that moment Camis bolted up right, breathing heavily, covered in sweat. He had been having the nightmare every night since they had escaped the Hazekillers in the previous hideout. The events of that night, all the stress and emotions, had made the long suppressed memory surface. Camis figured it was the look he saw in the children's eyes when he arrived to get them that night. He had seen the same confusion and fear he had felt. He had Soothed them, of course, so that they would stay calm and he could evacuate them unharmed. Those emotions he had to soothe, the same emotions he had felt as a child, still haunted his dreams.

He saw the light peeking in through the slits of his pitch-black curtains and knew that it was time to get up. Ai had asked him for his help in talking to Dek time and time again and after his talk with Sev a couple of days ago he was finally ready to start contributing to helping Ai with Dekard.

* * *

><p>Dekard had finally started moving about the house, though he didn't really talk to anyone. He had met a few more people, especially now that everyone knew he was a Mistborn. This morning he saw Camis and Ailyie talking to Terrin about something. What? He didn't know. Dek had met Terrin a couple of days before. She was a Twinborn like Cam and Ai. He could tell by the way she moved and reacted to stimuli that she was a Tineye, meaning that she burned tin and received a boost to all of her senses while she burned it. He hadn't caught that she was a Twinborn at first, but when he overheard someone talking about her sleeping habits and how she would sleep for hours and hours longer than anyone else he immediately concluded that she was a sentry ferring. This meant that her Feruchemical metal was bronze and that she stored wakefulness in her metalminds. This allowed her to stay awake for a very long period of time when tapping them.<p>

Dekard, after a short battle with himself finally started to move towards the group. The presence of Cam and Terrin made him a little apprehensive because Camis still couldn't stand for him to be around, and Terrin seemed, well, kind of cold. As he closed the distance between the group and himself he saw Ailyie turn towards him and smile. He could tell that she felt like she had finally won their battle. Maybe she had, but Dek still didn't feel comfortable with his situation or with the people in the house. He couldn't just sit around in his room forever though. Ai was right about him having nowhere else to go and no one else to go to. Though he felt that he wanted to die his natural human nature made him fight to survive, and that meant that he needed some form of social interaction, even if it was with metal users.

"Hi, Dek! I'm glad that you finally decided to approach us instead of the other way around!" Ai said in her unfailingly cheerful tone. _She is always so happy._ Dek thought. Then Dek turned to look at the other two. Terrin just stared at him with a look that was hard to distinguish between dislike and apathy. Dekard assumed that she didn't like him considering that most everyone here knew who he was and felt that way about him. He didn't really care. Cam, as always, glared at him with that disapproving, hating scowl. Then Cam said,"Darbringer, if you try anything don't think that this whole place won't come down on you in a second. You may be a Mistborn, but not even that could give you the chance against all of us. I'm watching you."

"Cam! Dekard is one of us now. He is starting to try to acclimatize himself and you are making it harder by always being so mean!"

"Ai, just because he finally came out of his room doesn't mean that he has accepted that. It just means that he has grown bored of the same four walls." At that Camis turned and walked off, headed back towards his room. Terrin gave Dek one more, long, hard stare that made him feel like his bones were melting and then she nodded towards Ai and walked off in the other direction. Terrin's height, dark black hair, dark brown eyes, and light, olive-brown skin made her cold stares a little intimidating and against his will Dek shivered a little under the weight of that stare. He was glad that she was gone for now.

"Wow, kid. You clear a group faster than a wet dog just back from the dump." Sev's voice had become something that Dek could easily pick out among crowds now.

"Well, I'm not that popular of a guy in this circle of society, Severith."

"That is probably a massive understatement." Sev said with a bellow of a laugh.

"Sev! Leave him alone!" Ai was always sticking up for Dek, in every situation. He still didn't get it. He was never very nice to her, but she always stood up for him and tried to protect him.

"It's okay, Ailyie. It's better than him running away when I approach, like everyone else." Dek said to the girl smiling at him, "I don't really know what I'm doing out here. I just felt that I needed to get out, and you are the only person who can stand my presence at all."

"Well I'm glad you are out and about. A few of us have a meeting in a little bit. I don't think that the others would let you come, but if Sev doesn't mind he is about to go out to his lab on another metal run. Maybe you can go with him!"

At that Sev chimed in. "I guess that'd be okay, but I don't completely trust you yet, Dek. If you don't mind I would like to blindfold you. You can understand my apprehension, right? I mean a lifetime of indoctrination doesn't just go away in a few days."

"Yeah, I understand. I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't go running back if they would take me."

"Well it's settled then! Dek will go with you Sev while Camis, Terrin, and I finish planning. I'll see the two of you later!" Ai then turned around and headed in the direction that Camis had gone.

* * *

><p>Cam and Ai hadn't been waiting for very long when Terrin finally arrived at the conference room. Cam and Ai were, of course, arguing about something. If they didn't look completely different, then Terrin would have thought they were related. It probably had something to do with the mission they were planning on undertaking. Terrin thought that Cam had some good points, but she did understand Ai's view on how dangerous the operation would be. Terrin was ready for it though. That's why she was here. She was tired of doing nothing but running.<p>

"Cam, I just don't know if this is a good idea. A lot of people could get hurt, or worse."

"We can't keep running all of the time. We have to stand up. We have to let the public know that we still exist, that the government isn't as powerful as they say. That Darbringer Media Incorporated isn't as powerful as they proclaim!"

"But you are talking about risking the lives of all of our friends. We can't take that kind of a risk! It isn't worth it."

"Everyone here is here because they are tired of just running, Ai. This is what we are all here for. Besides we will only take volunteers. Everyone involved will know what the risks are."

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but can I say something?" Terrin had just been sitting to the side taking in the conversation that Cam and Ai were having. "I agree with Cam. We can't keep running. If we continue to run then they will never let us stop running until we are completely extinct. Ai, I know you fear for the lives of everyone here, but they should be able to make the choice for themselves."

"Then we'll ask for volunteers. If we get the amount of people we need to pull this off then I guess we will go forward with the plan to break into the DMI building. I still think that we need to do it at night, when there are less people there. Not everyone out there hates us and I don't want us to become monsters."

"Fine. If we go through with this then we will do it on your time schedule, Ai."

"Thank you for that, Cam. I guess we should make this idea known to everyone so we can start taking volunteers."

"We may not want to make it known to everyone."

"Are you implying that we shouldn't tell Dek, Terrin?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"I think that he has the right to know over anyone else. It is his family's building."

"You make a great point, Ai. Sorry, Terrin, but I agree with Ai. I still don't trust Dekard, but we may be able to use his knowledge of the building."

"Do you actually think that he will cooperate?" Terrin asked.

"We won't give him a choice."

After that last statement Ai looked at Cam with despair and a twinge of regret in her eyes. She knew this would be dangerous, and she also knew that when they told Dek that it would probably destroy everything she had been working towards.

* * *

><p>Dekard had been blindfolded, but he could tell that it didn't take Sev and him long to get to the lab in Sev's vehicle. The lab was a simple place, though it was only lit artificially. Dek didn't know if that had to do with the alloying process or if it was just for safety from outside eyes. He guessed it was probably the latter. He was amazed at how easy Sev made the process look. From what he did know about the alloying process it was very complicated, especially when it came to Allomantic metals. If the percentages of metals in the alloy were off then they could make the person who burned them very sick. Sev just went from station to station setting up his computers and algorithms to do most of the grunt work while he went around and did some fine tuning during the process. Dek had never seen such a sophisticated system before, and the fact that Sev had built it from scratch virtually by himself was amazing.<p>

"Do you need me to do anything, Sev? I feel a little weird just sitting here watching you work."

"What? You aren't used to doing nothing while others work? I would think being a Darbringer that you hardly ever did any manual labor."

"My family takes physical strength very seriously. That's why we all learn the ways of the Hazekillers. My father drilled a very strict work ethic into me and though I hated it at times I see the value in working with your hands. Don't think that just because I come from a rich family that I sit around and do nothing but party all of the time. 'Responsibility is a gift' is something my father used to always say."

"Really? That seems odd since your family's media company never owns up to the responsibility they have as the most influential family in the world."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The Darbringer's, as you obviously know, are the most powerful family in the entire world. They have a public responsibility to work their influence for the betterment of the world as a whole, but they only work on bettering themselves and lining their own pockets. That's how this whole extermination process was started in the first place."

Dekard thought about what Sev said for a second and though he, deep down, knew he was right but his pride was offended and he couldn't help but grow angry. "How dare you talk about my family like that! They have done tons for this world!"

"Like what, Dekard! Tell me one thing that your family has done that has been for the good of all!"

"For one, they rid the world of most of the filthy metal users that flaunted and misused their abilities to manipulate those around them!"

"You disappoint me, Dek. After all you have seen around you, living on the other side of this conflict. You still don't get it do you? You are the bad guy, you are the manipulator. How can you not see that your family is the most powerful family because they manipulated the fears of the people around them? You continue to just be a selfish little child even in the face of what is happening."

Dekard hadn't really ever seen this side of Sev. He was usually so laidback compared to everyone else, so upbeat, always making jokes. Dek saw how much Sev repressed his hatred of him when Ai was around. Sev cared a lot for Ai, which was evident now. Dek didn't know what else to say. Sev was wrong though, Dek had begun to see it. He just didn't want to face the truth. He was still fighting to get his former life back. _Why can't things just go back to the way they are supposed to be?_

* * *

><p>The news about the plan to break into DMI had caught Dek off guard and he was still trying to decide if he was going to go with the group or not. He had been thinking about what Sev had said to him at the lab since he got back to his room. He was torn about seeing his father, who he knew would be at the building. He was always at the building. <em>Would my father take me back? Does he know that I'm an Allomancer? Maybe I could hide it and get back to my old life.<em> At that moment Dek decided that he would volunteer to go on the mission to his family's business building. He would wait for the right time to slip away and make it to his father's office.

Dek stood up and walked to his door to go tell Ai that he had decided to go. He knew that she would be happy that he was going. She would assume that he had finally come to terms with his situation. As always Ai perplexed him, even when they were going to the DMI building she still told him even though most of the others probably disagreed with that idea. She was the only person he had ever met that just trusted wholeheartedly. Though he thought she was naïve for trusting that easily, part of him envied her because of the same reason.

When Dek opened his door she was already standing there waiting for him. Her vibrancy made him feel a little guilty about his plan, but he was growing desperate to return things to normal. Life wasn't supposed to be like it was at that moment, and he wanted to get back to the way things were. "Hello, Ai. I've decided to go with you guys, so you can count me in."

Ai wore her smile that she always had on, the smile that said everything was going to be okay. She was obviously happy that Dek hadn't completely retired back into his room. "Good! I'm glad you are coming with us! I really think that you being there will help keep people from getting hurt. Thank you, Dek!"

Terrin walked up and spoke to the two of them. "We will be leaving a few hours after the sun has gone down. I suggest that you get your metals from Sev and get some rest. Not everyone can stay up at will."

Dek and Ai looked at Terrin and took her advice. It wasn't very hard to find Sev. They just had to follow the sound of laughing children. Sev liked to leave all the kids that stayed with them on a high note before they did anything dangerous. From the sound of it he was accomplishing that task. After they got to Sev he told them were they could find the vials of metal. He also mentioned that he had put together a few special vials with multiple metals for Dek. Dek and Ai went and picked up their resources and went their separate ways to take Terrin's advice. They were all in for a very long night.


	4. Chapter 4

_Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet_

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><p>Not very many people had volunteered for the mission to break into DMI. Dek was sitting in the van across from a few Mistings that he had seen in his wanderings around the house. From what he had gleaned, the three of them consisted of a Coinshot, a Lurcher, and a Rioter. The Coinshot's metal was steel, the Lurcher's iron, and the Rioter's zinc. By burning steel the Coinshot could push from his center of gravity on sources of metal that were around him, but if the metal source weighed more than him or was pushed up against something that weighed more than him he would be pushed away from the source of metal instead of pushing it away from him. The girl, the Lurcher, could do the opposite of the Coinshot by burning iron. Instead of pushing metals away from her she could pull them towards her; or, in turn, pull herself towards metal sources that had a greater weight than hers. The zinc burner could push on peoples' emotions causing those emotions he targeted to become flared above other emotions. He burned the compliment metal of Camis who burned brass.<p>

Dek still had a hard time dealing with his ability to burn all of these metals. He was a compilation of all of the abilities of Mistings, and it was hard enough finding out that he was an Allomancer in the first place. Dek felt that if he was lucky he could talk to his father and hide his Allomantic abilities for the rest of his life. _This may be my last and only chance to get my life back._

The vials that Sev had created for Dek didn't contain all sixteen metals in them. Dek knew that it would be hard to get a hold of the temporal metals, so he wasn't surprised that the vials only had the physical -iron, steel, pewter, and tin- and two of the mental –brass and zinc- metals in them. Some of the other metals that could be acquired easily had lost their usefulness when Allomancers stopped fighting against each other. Burning bronze allowed an Allomancer to feel the pulses of other Allomancers burning metals around them, and Copper, its contrasting metal, allowed Allomancers to hide the Allomantic pulses emitted from those Seekers. Since they wouldn't be facing Allomancers those metals were kind of useless.

The van came to a stop and so did Dek's thoughts. This was it. It was time. Sev, who was sitting to Dek's right, opened up the back door and the three Mistings along with Sev, Dek, and Ai, who had been to Dek's left, piled out. Cam and Terrin had been in the cab and were heading to the back as Sev was closing the doors.

"Okay, Dek. Which way do we need to go." Cam was as abrupt and hateful as always. Dek could hear in his voice that it pained Cam to have to rely on him. Out of everyone that Dek had met over the past weeks he could tell that Cam hated him the most. Dek didn't necessarily blame him. They were technically enemies, and Dek didn't really like him either.

"Around this way is the back entrance. It is locked down with a high security gate, but I have the key code. Follow me and don't, anyone, stray. If we are going to do this with no casualties you have to do what I say." As Dek, leading the group of eight, looked around the corner he could see a couple of regular security guards patrolling the alleyway around the security entrance. "Okay, Cam I need you to soothe their apprehension, while you, Rioter, riot their boredom. Get them off guard, and I'll incapacitate them." At that moment both of the guards yawned and slumped. The next instant was a blur of motion as Dek began to burn pewter enhancing his speed. He rounded the corner and immediately burned some of the iron in his system. He saw for the first time the blue incorporeal lines he had only heard about in reports of tortured Mistings spring from his chest, drawing lines that only he could see to all the sources of metal around him. As he expected, several lines leapt out of his chest and stopped at the guards. He reached out with his mind and tugged on sources of metal on the two guards at the same time. The guards were thrown off balance by the sudden jerk on their belt buckles as Dek flew through the air at the two men. Seconds later Dek was tying and gagging the unconscious men and sticking them behind a dumpster.

"For someone who hates Allomancers you're a natural, kid."

"Well, countless hours of training about Allomancy so that you can combat it gives you an insight into it I suppose, Sev."

Cam, growing impatient, spoke up. "We don't have much time. Open the door Dek we need to keep moving."

Though Dek agreed with Camis he was getting tired of him bossing him around, so he took a little longer than he had planned opening the door. He gave Cam a nice, solid glare while he did it. The look on Cam's face told Dek that he was getting under the man's skin. Then he saw Ai standing behind him with her eyes that offered an escape and decided that he needed to pick up the pace. _What is it about her that makes me feel comfortable and guilty all at the same time?_ A moment later the large metal door was slowly opening. Sev let out a long, low whistle at the size of the door as the others went through the portal and then said, "Now that's a big door."

"Over here. There is a cargo elevator that we can use to get to the top floors less noticed." Dek was beginning to feel that excitement of seeing his father again, and of the possibility of finally waking from this nightmare.

* * *

><p>In the darkly lit room the quivering man could only partially see the silhouette of the man he knew was Lieman Darbringer, owner of Darbringer Media, Inc. Being in the presence of the man that held his fate in his hands always made the him nervous, but the work he did kept him alive, at least for now.<p>

The man hidden in the shadows spoke in his deeply distinct voice that sent more chills down the quivering man's spine. "What is it? Speak quickly, worm."

With a very noticeable quiver in his voice the scrawny man said, "I… detected the pulses of Allomancers... coming from the rear entrance…"

"Good, good. You have earned yourself a few more days of life with that report… What are you still doing here? Get out of my sight before I decide to offer another filthy bronze burner the chance to live in your place!" At that the man quickly turned tail and ran with all haste back to his post. He may have had a terrible life under Darbringer; but he had life, even if he would never be able to have children or leave the building.

* * *

><p>The cargo elevator offered more room than a normal one would have, but with all eight of them piled in it there was still little room to move. The group had moved closer to the floor that held Dek's father's office and the emergency broadcast equipment that was used to flood all media channels. It would be the perfect place to execute Camis' plan to make their presence known to the world. Dek wasn't sure what exactly Cam was thinking this idea would help besides make the extermination of them more intense. Once the world found out they were still around they would have to go even deeper into hiding than they already were. Dek assumed it was because Cam didn't know Dek's father and how relentless he was. Lieman Darbringer would not let something like this go unanswered for and all remaining metal users would suffer greatly.<p>

Suddenly the elevator came to a jolting stop, almost throwing the occupants to the ground. If they weren't packed so tight inside of the lift they probably would have been. The emergency lights came on and Dek spoke up, "They must know we're here. This doesn't make sense. They shouldn't know we're here…"

All the tension that Cam had been building towards Dek finally boiled over and exploded in that instant. "What did you do? Did you signal someone? I know you did this!" As Cam was making that statement he was also pushing his way through everyone to get to Dek. He didn't trust Dekard at all and knew deep down that it was a bad idea to bring him, even though he had been the one to suggest it. He was trying to take Sev's advice and get some use out of Dek, but this was the last straw. His friends, no, his family was in danger here and he just knew that Dek had sold them out somehow.

"I'm so sick of your condescending hatred, Camis! If you want to do this then I will oblige!" Dek began to make his move towards Cam in the tightly packed elevator.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Ai yelled as the two men were moving towards each other. She now stood between them as everyone else had tried to squeeze up against the walls to get out of the way of the two of them. "I'm tired of you two always having all of this tension and anger flowing between you. You are both being so selfish! Cam, you have to stop blaming Dek for everything that goes wrong! I know he is a Darbringer and that you've had a rough life because of his family, but he is obviously meant for something different. For Harmony's sake learn to let go." And then she turned toward Dek. The look in her eye cut Dek to the bone. There was so much disappointment in her gaze. She didn't say anything to him. She didn't need to. She could see the affect her disappointed look had on the man.

Dek broke the stare Ai had been giving him and turned around saying, "We need to get out of here. There should be a panel on the ceiling over here." With that Dek flared steel and pewter and the hatch on the top of the elevator exploded off its hinges and fell down the shaft bouncing off walls and steels beams on its way down.

"That was extremely subtle, kid." Sev had a rare ability to make light of almost any situation, even one that included Cam and Dek almost getting into a brawl in an awkwardly overcrowded elevator.

"Have I told you how much I don't like being called 'kid?'" Then Dek shot up and through the opening in the top of the elevator. The Coinshot, using the same method as Dek, followed suit. Then the others began to climb out until only Ai and Cam where left in the cargo lift that seemed much, much larger when it was mostly empty.

"Cam, I know you don't trust him at all, but please trust me enough to give him a chance. I know you feel like he doesn't deserve a chance from us, but he is special. I don't see how you can't see that. I don't know what it is but he is meant for something great. I just know it."

Cam didn't say a word. He just looked into Ai's eyes with a look that told her that he would try, for her. Then he ran up the wall of the elevator, kicked off of it and hoisted himself through the forcefully opened hatch. Ai followed shortly after Cam was up and out of the way by grabbing Dek and Sev's arms as they pulled her up.

The elevator shaft was long and dark but, to the relief of everyone, on the top of the lift there was an emergency ladder on the wall and climbing wouldn't be too difficult.

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken the Hazekillers, which Lieman summoned, long before they arrived at the building and were in his presence. They were fully decked out and waiting outside of the cargo elevator doors for the Allomancers to show themselves. This group of Hazekillers hadn't seen any action in a very long time and after seeing the aftermath of what had happened at the raid a month ago these guys were ready to kill these Allomancers. They had the element of surprise and they were itching to spill some blood.<p>

"Don't just stand outside the shaft you idiots! I'm sure my son will be with them and I have a plan that requires you to be hidden." Lieman didn't have to say another word and like a flash the Hazekillers had seemingly disappeared. There Lieman- with his overwhelming height, grey hair, and greyish-blue eyes- stood, ominously in the dimly lit room, seemingly alone. Then a devious smirk cracked across his face, and he chuckled ever so slightly.

* * *

><p>The group of Allomancers had only been about halfway to their destination when the power to the elevator had been cut off. They were almost to the correct floor and every single one of them, save the Coinshot and Dek, was glad that there had been an emergency escape ladder in the shaft. A moment later the group was lined down the ladder and across from them was the elevator door that would lead to Dek's father's office, where the emergency broadcast system was located.<p>

"We've made it, but they know we're here so they are waiting for us on the other side of this door. We need to take this slowly. Everyone get to the sides. Sev, help me open this door." After Dek finished talking, he burned pewter and jumped clear across to the other side. Sev followed him and both of them were now on the sides of the door, pulling it open slowly. A moment later the door was open enough for Dek to slip through, and as he moved through the opening he saw his father standing there waiting for him, smirking. "Father?" Dek said in astonishment. He knew someone would be waiting for them, but he assumed it wouldn't be his father, and alone. _Something fishy is going on here? For one, how did he know we're here?_

"Hello, son, it's been a while since we've seen each other. I figured you would be with this rabble, but I did not think that you would be leading them to me. Are you ready to have your life back?"

"Wha… Yes. Yes I am."

Sev said, "What about you being a Mistborn? Did you really not hear anything I said to you yesterday?"

Dek look at his father, astonishment and fear covering his face.

"Dekard, don't look so worried. Did you not think I wouldn't know about you? You are my son and I love you. We will hide that little fact from the world. They have no need to know. I haven't seen you in a month and a half. I'm just glad that you talked these Allomancers into bringing you along. They are dumber than we ever imagined, for now they have brought you back to me and they will die. Dekard claim your place as a Hazekiller and my rightful heir. Kill those wretched Allomancers behind you!"

At that moment Dekard saw his chance to have all he ever wanted, but when he turned around and saw the elevator completely open and everyone who came with him staring at him; he hesitated. It had only been a month, but he had been around them closely enough that he could no longer think of them as animals to be slaughtered. _This should be easy. I could easily push them all down with a powerful steel push. They're all wearing metal of some kind._ His hesitation felt like a lifetime and then out of the shadows a contingent of Hazekillers appeared and began to riddle the elevator entrance with bullets. In that second, he saw the Coinshot that had come with them shot through with aluminum bullets. His lifeless body then plummeted into the depths of the elevator shaft. He couldn't look any longer and as he turned he saw more bodies plummet down the shaft, but he couldn't tell if it was because they jumped or because they were dead. Against his will tears began to brim his eyes.

At his son's hesitation, Lieman's words leapt from his lips, like flames off a blazing fire. "Dekard, listen to what I told you to do! Kill them, or I will kill you like I killed your Allomancer of a mother!" The rage in his voice was easy to see. He couldn't believe that it was taking his son so long to make up his mind. He had only spent a month with the flea bitten metal users. He even saw something shimmering under Dekard's eyes as the Hazekillers performed for him. Something he could only assume was tears. This was making him sick. _He has been ruined by those people. I guess I will have to turn the Hazekillers on him as well. Oh well. It would have been nice to have a Mistborn, though. Just thinking about the power he would have brought me gives me chills._ A quick movement and a surprised scream ripped Lieman from his thoughts.

Dekard had been having a hard time fighting his urge to help the people he had spent the last month with. He wanted his old life back so badly and knew that this war he was waging in himself was ridiculous. Why couldn't he just do it? Then his father's words made the decision for him. His mother had been an Allomancer. So many things began to make sense in that split second. The Darbringers may not have been Allomancers, but they had descended from a noble line from very long ago that had been full of Allomancers. The gene must have just been carried along, passing from generation to generation and then a current Allomancer mixed in and brought the gene out again. _My mother must have faked my snapping session as a child because she knew that because we were descended from the Ventures that I would most likely be an Allomancer. She tried to save my life._ Then the water in Dekard's eyes was replaced by fire.

The closest Hazekiller never even saw what was about to happen to him, and he never stood a chance. Dekard grabbed the man and his rifle, twisting the man's neck farther than it should've been able to move. At the same time he was pointing the man's gun at another Hazekiller across the way, killing both of them in one swift motion. The man's bloodcurdling scream startled the other Hazekillers, and they all turned to see Dek moving through their ranks one by one dropping them like flies. They all opened fire, but Dekard, fueled by pewter, moved too swiftly and used the Hazekillers to shield himself from their onslaught of fire. In the moment, Dekard was a reaper and all the men around him were giving their lives to him with utter and absolute ease. He relieved two of the men of their aluminum daggers and began to move through the rest of the Hazekillers, who had dropped their rifles and pulled out melee weapons, cutting them down in his rage.

Lieman just stood there dumbstruck at his son's power. Dek's explosion of action froze the man in his place and he didn't even blink until all he could see was Dek standing there amongst the aggregation of dead bodies. Then Dek, pushing off something metal in the elevator shaft, flew at the petrified Lieman and pinned him to the ground with a dagger at his throat. "I should kill you right now! How could you kill her?" Before Lieman could respond Dek realized that he wasn't sure if he was talking about his mother or Ailyie.

Lieman had been shaken out of his stiffness by Dek's attack and with all the defiance he had ever had he said, "Because she was a filthy Allomancer and she hid it from me, so she had earned death! She finally slipped up a month ago on your birthday and I caught her and killed her immediately. Knowing that you were probably an Allomancer I sent some men to find you and check for me. They accomplished part of their job, but they didn't have the brains to think to bring you back to me. Who could blame them though? They probably had a hard time not just killing you on the spot. I never thought that you would be a Mistborn, though. I got the report back from the Hazekillers that found you a couple of nights after that night, and I saw the reports that showed you had ability to burn multiple metals. That's when I thought that I would try to bring you back and use you to my advantage, but you removed the tracking device, so imagine my excitement when my seeker comes up here and tells me that he has sensed Allomancers in the building. I knew you would be with them, but you have grown soft and loving of those people. I had not anticipated that. What? Don't look at me like that. You think that I would really kill all of the Allomancers that I find? This whole "purge" thing is ridiculous. I give some the chance to live. Being the only man alive that has Allomancers working for me makes me even more powerful. Killing all of them is just a bad business decision." Then Lieman looked to his left and said to the man standing there, "It took you long enough to get up here."

Dekard looked in the direction his father had spoken and saw a wall of metal shards flying through the air at him and a single man standing behind them, a Coinshot. Dekard instinctively jumped towards the edge of the wall of metal bits and flared steel veering them away from him, but at that moment a large mass crashed into his back. The man was a very big pewterarm and Dekard had to flare his pewter to keep from being crushed beneath the man's bear hug. Luckily the floors were made of metal. Dekard pushed himself, and the man, up and into the ceiling of the room. The force of the blow loosened the pewterarm's grip and Dek broke free and they both fell towards the ground. Dek pushed slightly as he fell to lighten his fall. The other man was not as fortunate and he landed on the top of his head. If he had not been burning pewter he surely would have broken his neck. Deckard then saw the door of the elevator open and a line of Hazekillers with rifles leveled standing in the lift. He was angry, but he knew when it was time to leave so he pushed himself away from the Hazekillers using the metal elevator and flared his pewter and steel as he approached the windows behind him. Dekard steelpushed the window frames as he flew at them and the force stopped his momentum for a second until he released the window frames. His idea had worked, though, and the window directly behind him had shattered the moment before he flew through it into the open air, a hundred stories above the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

**The statement made in chapter one about the original story belonging to Brandon Sanderson and the OCs belonging to me still stands. Please let me know what you think of my story. Thanks!**

_Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet_

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><p>There they were, falling down towards the elevator they had left. Ailyie wasn't sure who was alive and who wasn't. The events that had just transpired had stunted her thoughts and all she could see was Dekard just standing there with his head turned as the Hazekillers did their work. Now they were falling and she thought for sure that they would all die, if they weren't already dead. The gunfire came so quickly that she just let go without really thinking of a way to survive the fall, and now that she was falling she could only think of what had happened up top. That's when she started to hear a muffled voice that sounded like it was calling her name, and then she finally snapped out of her thoughts to hear Sev yelling.<p>

"Ai! Ai, snap out of it! We need to come up with a way to slow our fall!"

Ai looked toward Sev to see him just staring at her with an unusually calm look on his face, despite their circumstance; though he was a Pewterarm and could probably easily use brute strength to save himself. That's when all of her senses rushed back at once and she could hear and feel the rush of air run past her as she fell down the elevator shaft. She quickly looked around to see who else was alive. She saw that Camis and Terrin were seemingly okay just above her. She couldn't see Shai, the Lurcher that had come with them, or Thom, her Rioter friend. She remembered that Heirm, the Coinshot, hadn't be as lucky as they had. _The Hazekillers appeared so suddenly_. Then she turned around in midair and saw Shai and Thom below her. The two of them were much farther ahead of them and she could just barely make them out against the backing darkness. She knew that they didn't have much time before they came up on the elevator.

At that moment Cam spoke up. "Terrin, can you see the elevator? Do you know how much time we have left?"

Then Terrin began to burn the tin in her system and used her enhanced vision, while ignoring her other senses' enhancements, to see further down the shaft than the rest of them could. "Yes. I can see the elevator coming up. I would say we have less than three-quarters of a minute before we hit it. Thom and Shai have less than thirty seconds."

They had to act fast. Ai yelled at the top of her lungs toward Shai and Thom. "You have to stop yourselves! We don't have much time!" Then she saw Shai lurch towards Thom, grab his arm and then the both of them flew towards the wall of the shaft, grabbing anything they could to slow and stop themselves. It would be a little more difficult for the rest of them since they were not Coinshots or Lurchers. They were running out of time, so Ai began to pull fortune out of her Chromiumminds. "Everyone, follow my lead!" Then she spread out into a position to help slow her descent and give her more control over her direction. They had rushed past Shai and Thom and were seconds away from the top of the elevator. Ai thought that her fortune had finally failed her. She expected for something to present itself so that she could stop them all from falling, but nothing seemed to be happening at all. Then she heard a loud sound and the elevator began to fall just before they reached it.

The elevator was falling at a slower pace than they were. The brakes on it must have still been making contact with the walls, enough that it wasn't in a complete free-fall. The group of Allomancers caught up with the descending elevator and climbed into it. Several seconds later, as Ai and Cam were trying to access a panel below the myriad of buttons so they could engage the emergency brakes, Shai and Thom climbed down from the roof. Shai pulled on the internal components of the small metal lock and broke it. When she was done Cam pulled the small door open and quickly pressed the emergency stop button.

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><p>As soon as Dekard exited the building through t he window hundreds of feet in the air a massive bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the clouds released an onslaught of rain. The rain was coming down in huge drops and it was blanketing everything that Dek could see as he was falling. He felt that it was the perfect imagery of what he was feeling. He had finally made a decision about whether he was going to really try to go back to his previous life or if he was going to make a new one. The fact that he had been struggling with this decision had been news to him, but as soon as his father had mentioned that Dek's mother had been killed at Lieman's command it all just clicked. Now he was falling towards the ground using the little time he had to think. <em>What am I going to do? Ai, Sev, Terrin,and especially Cam will never accept me now. I let her down, the one person that ever put their trust in me and who treated me like a real person and not some kind of tool.<em>

At that moment another bolt of lightning painted the sky and he could see the silhouettes of Hazekillers in glider suits pursuing him. That's when the rain of aluminum bullets joined in with the rain of water. Dek quickly pushed himself further from the building burning steel, putting himself out of the line of fire. Then he shifted his body's center of gravity and turned himself into a dive towards the freeway that was now below him. He quickly reached terminal velocity in his dive and as the road approached he sprawled out catching the rushing wind with his body; then he steel-pushed to his left and right on buildings while continuously burning pewter to keep his body from collapsing. While continuously changing what he was pushing on in the two opposing directions he effectively slowed himself until he finally let go and landed on a large freight truck, iron- pulling himself firm to its top to keep from falling off.

When Dek finally stood up he turned and looked into the sky to see if he could still see the Hazekillers. It was just too dark and the sky was to full of raindrops. Dek decided to try and burn tin for the first time. He had been avoiding it because he knew he couldn't enhance just one of his senses. This made him apprehensive about it because he assumed that he wouldn't be able to discern anything from the flood of sensation. As he thought, tin didn't come as naturally to him as the other physical metals and as soon as he began to burn it there was a loud clap of thunder and he felt his head swimming from how loud it was to his tin enhanced ears. That compounded by the rain hitting his sensitive skin and the thumping of drops on the metal cab of the truck made his head feel like it was going to split wide open. He was lucky enough to see the silhouettes of the Hazekillers pulling back though and that told him that things were about to get much worse. He immediately stopped burning tin before it killed him, for that's what he felt it was going to do. _I have to think quickly. I need to get back to the others. They may need my help, though they probably won't want it…_

It hadn't taken the Hazekillers long to come flying up the highway in their deep-black utility vehicles. They were now up beside the large truck and beginning to box it in to stop it. Dek, without hesitation, steel-pushed off the top of the truck in the direction of the DMI building. As soon as his feet left the truck the Hazekillers opened fire. Dek then iron-pulled himself down towards the Hazekiller vehicle directly below him, landing hard on the reinforced roof. Then a helmeted head and a gun came up to his left and Dek quickly kicked the gun out of the man's hands. Dek's foot reflexively found the man's face soon after and if it wasn't for the other people in the vehicle the Hazekiller would have fallen on the road below unconscious. Dek knew that he didn't have much time and needed to get off of these speeding trucks and away from these Hazekillers.

Dekard's next move wasn't thought out extensively, but he had to do something. He knew that keeping this fight on the freeway going would get him killed. So he began to burn steel, immediately seeing the trail of blue lines burst from his abdomen. He soon found the two he was looking for; they were little in comparison to some of the others and they were spaced apart at just the right amount. He pushed on the left of the two lines and the truck began to skid across the road as the brakes were engaged. As Dekard's body slid forward he saw a few Hazekillers slam into the reinforced windshield of the vehicle and he steel-pushed off the hood, launching himself into the air.

Not a moment later he was burning steel and iron and quickly navigating the air using the speeding cars on the freeway as anchors. He could feel the torque of the speeding cars pushing and pulling his body to its limits, even with the enhancements that pewter offered it. He then saw a tunnel in the distance, his way to finally escape. He picked up his pace so that when he made the switch he would have enough distance on the Hazekillers to keep from being spotted. He neared the tunnel and the overpass on top of it and when he got into position he gave the car right below him a good hard push so that he would have the correct height to move onto the other road. As he pushed the car suddenly stopped and Dekard launched himself in a more forward motion than he had anticipated. Trying to adjust he pushed on another vehicle below him, and in his panic he didn't notice the giant overhanging streetlamp until it was too late. Just after Dek's head connected with the overhanging light he was flying through the air unconscious. A moment later a loud clap of thunder roared through the air and his limp form landed in the bed of an old pick-up truck full of hay.

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><p>With the elevator finally stopped Ai had just a moment to stop and look at everyone. That was when she saw that there was something terribly wrong with Sev that she hadn't noticed before. When she looked Sev in the eyes she saw a slightly blank stare peering back at her. She could see beads of sweat forming on his head and then her eyes fell to his shirt that she could now tell was soaked with blood. "Sev!" She screamed as she pushed through the others to get to him. It was evident that the only thing keeping him conscious and alive was the pewter in his system. "You're going to be okay! Cam, we need to get out of this place. Severith needs medical attention!" The unnatural worry was evident in her tone and urgency.<p>

"I'll be fine, girl. I still have another vial of pewter."

"That won't keep you from dying, Sev. It will only make it harder for you to tell when you need to slow down to stay alive."

Then Terrin stepped up and said, "We need to get this thing moving, or we will all die."

"Ai, keep an eye on Sev. Terrin, I'll need your help to bypass the power detent so we can get this thing running again." Cam was brooding with anger on the inside, but he knew that now wasn't the time to be angry. His friends needed him to step up and be a leader, to rectify the mistake of coming here in the first place.

Moments later the regular lighting in the elevator flickered on and it started to move towards their destination. Ai had given Sev his other vial of pewter so that his body could start trying to heal the wounds. The three bullets had passed through him, making the process much less complicated. Ai knew that if the bullets were still lodged in his system that she would have had to fish them out quickly so that Sev's body could begin to heal itself. As it stood though, she really felt, and hoped, that Sev would be alright.

When they finally reached the bottom floor Cam had everyone squeeze up next to the walls so that he could open the doors while keeping them from being exposed to any kind of ambush. Much to his surprise there was no one around. He quickly waved everyone forward. He turned the next corner and froze, seeing a contingent of Hazekillers. He then noticed that they were heading in the other direction; towards the area that Dekard had told them earlier was the garage. Cam took everyone the opposite way towards the freight dock and their van. Luckily for them and to their surprise they met no resistance on the way out. In fact, every person they saw was moving like they were leaving the building or going up towards the top floors. Moments later they were packed in the van and driving back home with Ai tending to Sev's wounds with some of the minor medical supplies stored under the van's seats.

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><p>Dekard woke to a bright beam of light piercing through the cracks of the wall next to him and some sort of livestock staring him in the face. After he pushed the creature out of his way so he could sit up, he began to try and recollect what had happened to him. His head was throbbing and his thought process was very hazy. "The last thing I can remember is trying to make my way to the road passing over the tunnel. What happened to me?"<p>

After he finished speaking his thought aloud he heard the voice of an aging man. "Good, ye'r awake. I wasn't sure if ya were ever going to wake up." Dekard turned and saw a man that looked to be in his early to mid-fifties, whose hair was just losing the last of its color to age. Then he asked the man, "Who are you, and where am I?"

"Well, the answer to yer first question is Tiir. My name is Edvan Tiir, and ye'r currently on my land out to the east of the capitol. When I got here three nights ago ya were in the back of my truck, knocked plum out. Don't know exactly how ya got there though."

"All I remember is steel-pushing off a car and then waking up here with that animal in m…" As he was pointing at the creature he realized that he just revealed he was an Allomancer to this stranger. He still had a lot to learn about watching what he said. He quickly stood up and tried to get into a defensive position just in case the man attacked him. His efforts were fruitless though, for when he stood up as quickly as he did his body couldn't take the movement and he began to swoon.

Mr. Tiir quickly moved and caught the falling Dek. "Whoa, slow down there, son. You obviously took quite a blow to the head. You need to take it easy. Besides don't fret about being a Mistborn. You are in the company of friends." Mr. Tiir had a big smile on his face as he helped Dekard back down into a sitting position.

Dekard wasn't sure if his stunned feeling was from this man knowing he was a Mistborn, or from his slight concussion. Dekard stopped the man from leaving with a question. "How did you know I was a Mistborn?"

"My wife, Edith, is a Seeker. She's the one that found ya in the first place. I usually just park the truck and head inside, but when I walked through the door my lovely wife said, 'Who'd ya bring home with ya, Edvan?' That was when we found ya, burning yer metal reserves unconsciously. That's when I took a snippet of aluminum I had in the house and put it down yer throat. Didn't want ya getting poisoned and all; would've kind of made the whole finding and doctoring ya up thing pointless. Well, son, I gotta get back to the chores. Rest up. My daughter will come get ya when dinner is ready."

"Thanks for saving my life. Though I probably didn't deserve it, and my name is Dekard."

"Well, Dekard, it's nice to meet you officially, but we know who ya are. Spitting image of yer father, plus we seen ya on TV a few times. Rest up, now. I left some milk and bread next to ya, but ya'll probably want to eat it before ole' Bessie there gets to it." As Edvan motioned towards the creature in the barn with them he turned and headed out the door.

Dekard was continuously amazed at finding allomancers who, despite their circumstances, just cared for people. He couldn't believe that he had been out for three days, and he couldn't help but think about Ai and the others. _I hope they're okay… I shouldn't have frozen. I should have been more decisive…_ Snapping out of his thoughts he took up the food beside him to eat and drink. He, then, laid back down wishing he had some pewter he could burn. That's when he realized that he actually desired to feel the burn of a metal reserve in him. It was a weird feeling, realizing that he had gone from wanting to forget the last month and a half to finally accepting who he was now. It felt releasing. He also heard his own condemning voice because of not making the decision sooner. Sooner so he could have prevented the hurt he caused the only people he felt like he could really trust. Then he fell asleep on the bed of hay in the barn on the Tiir property.

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><p>A few hours later Dekard woke to the noise of someone coming in the barn. In stepped a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl that looked to be about seventeen years old. "Hi. My name is Avian. My mom told me to come get you for dinner since you're finally awake." Then the girl turned back around and started walking towards the quaint, country house Dek could see through the open doorway. He stood up as quickly as he could, without passing out, and started to make his way towards the house.<p>

As soon as he got to the door and was reaching for the handle it opened and Avian was standing there holding the door open for him to come in the house. That was when he first saw Mr. Tiir's wife, Edith Tiir. She wasn't very tall and you could tell by the color that was still left in her hair that it had been brown before she started to go grey. She had a huge smile on her face that made Dekard feel very welcome. "Hi! Have a seat, it is almost done. Here ya can sit over here." As she moved to show him to his seat she accidentally knocked a porcelain container full of milk off the countertop. Dekard moved to try and catch it, but before he even realized it Avian had already caught it and was putting it back where it had been. Dekard was amazed at her reaction time, though he figured that her mother was a little bit of a klutz and that Avian was used to it.

When they were finally sitting down eating Mrs. Tiir began to ask Dekard question about himself and how the son of the leader of the metal user oppression was a Mistborn. He explained a little about how he Snapped and how he hadn't gone through the Snapping session when he was supposed to. He also talked about his friends, though after it was all said and done he had left out most of the event that happened at the DMI building.

When Dekard finished Edith spoke up saying, "It's just sick how they make those children go through those awful Snapping sessions, especially when it isn't even necessary to beat people to get them to Snap."

This statement peaked Dekard's interest. "Wait? What do you mean you don't have to beat people to get them to Snap?"

Edvan obliged with the answer to Dekard's question. "Snapping through traumatic events is the ancient method of Snapping people. When Harmony took up both Preservation and Ruin he changed the way people were Snapped, though because Ruin was still part of him he had to leave the former way in as well. This society of people who hate Allomancers decided that physical trauma made people tougher for hunting down and killing metal users."

"Wait a second? I've heard of Harmony before, but what exactly is Preservation and Ruin?"

"That is probably a conversation for another day. It's kind of a long and complicated story. It's just important to know that the way that the government forces people to get Snapped is disgusting, especially because it's unneeded."

"Oh… Okay. I guess I'll have to let you tell me some other time then… Well thank you so much for dinner Mr. and Mrs. Tiir, but I've got a lot on my mind and I'm getting tired again. I think I'm going to retreat to the barn."

"Nonsense! We finally got the guest bedroom ready for you to stay in. Avian, will you show Dekard to his room?"

"Yes, mom."

"Thank you all for your hospitality. Goodnight." Then Dekard followed Avian upstairs to the little room that looked much more comfortable than the pile of hay he woke up on in the barn.


End file.
